Jhalak Dikhhla Jaa’s latest entrant, Dwayne Bravo on the commitment it takes to dance better than the rest
The cricketer with dance partner Bhavika. Pic/Bipin Kokate
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Dancing is harder than cricket. I finish off cricket practice in four hours, but with dancing, I have to keep at it for seven hours to make sure I am good,” admits West Indian cricketer Dwayne Bravo currently in Mumbai to participate in the reality TV show, 'Jhalak Dikhhla Jaa 9'.
This is not the first time Indian audiences are going to watch the animated cricketer strut his stuff. His Champion Song, which he debuted after winning a match against India during the T20 World Cup this March, saw him shake his booty with Chris Gayle in a video that went viral. “But that’s the cricket field, where I am in my element. Here on the sets of Jhalak, I was shy. Thankfully, no one made me feel like, ‘why the hell is he here!’ So slowly, I have gained my confidence and started having fun,” he tells us on the set at Film City.
And while the experience is one he is cherishing, Dwayne can’t detach from the competitive sportsman he is. “Who doesn’t want to win? I am in this to win,” he says.
The 33-year-old cricketer belongs to the same village that cricketing legend Brian Lara does, Santa Cruz, in Trinidad and Tobago of the Caribbean. And there, Dwayne shares, dance and music is a part of culture and life, just like it with Indians. So, he has grown up dancing, never worrying about technique and having a good time. “In my country, we dance with a girl, we ‘whine’ each other up,” he says, making a move which we recognise as grinding.
“Yes, that’s what it is...” he cracks up. “It’s like Rihanna singing ‘Work, work, work’ and you know how that beat
goes, right?”
In an uncharacteristically sombre moment, he says it took him a while to get to this jovial state. He speaks of being left out of the 2015 World Cup squad. “They tried to bring me down. I was disappointed but I didn’t let my head hang. I kept working, and so, when the T20 World Cup happened and we won, the Champion Song had to be released. Because I am a champion!”
For now, he will focus on dancing and getting to know Bollywood. “I watch TV and listen to music on my phone.
I know what’s going on [in the Hindi film and music industry].”
Back home, he says, his hero is Beenie Man. “The world knows him as the King of Dancehall. I was starstruck when I met him, and that was odd because I have even met the Queen!” So, which other musician will you always find on his phone, we ask.
“DJ Bravo, course!”
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